Caryl

I suspect LA answered without actually looking as that is where you added your sig in the last forum so he assumed it was the same here. This one does not seem to have a sig field and, from scrolling through looking, I can't find anyone with a sig attached. I know I used to have one on the old forum but it has disappeared from this one. I hadn't noticed until you asked and I suspect LA is the same!

Don't know but it looks like the one I haul out of the local river but have never had luck with it in my pond. I suspect it likes a good water flow.

My 4ft must be getting up to 20 years too. I am more concerned with the sealant giving way than the glass cracking. I have been told tanks should be re-sealed every 10 years. The tank has been moved twice in that time. Polystyrene is good but doesn't help in an earthquake

I have only just started feeding them again after winter so just crushed up Aqua One flakes.

Others may have had more luck but I have found moving Ancistrus fry smaller than 3cm is unsuccessful, they do not survive.

I am happy to send you the pics Ira. Not sure if you still have the same email address as the one I have here though. Could post them here if nobody objects.

Easier to do on a larger fish :-) Anything I can do for the live one? I know peas or Epsom Salts work for constipation but a gut blockage is different.

There is another very large fish I am watching. Hard to tell if they are enjoying the sun or if it is a pre-cursor to something else. It does not startle so I suspect another is about to die :-(

Thanks for that Colour_genes. I am wondering the same myself so will soak the flakes before adding them to the water. I do not feed pellets or larger foods at first (my dad always said fine porridge oats was good for them at the start of spring). We have had a very hard winter so perhaps that has added to the problem.

Fish died and we tried to open it up. No idea what to look at. Have taken photos but need to go out now. I will email the pics to you later today LA rather than post them here in case they upset someone.

Not sure about an autopsy as I do not have any equipment (or a good enough knife, or the stomach ). At the moment this fish is still alive, but only just. We are going out and I suspect it will be dead on our return. It does not appear to be stressed which is why I have not euthanised it. Gills looking lovely and normal.

I doubt the addition of that many small fish into a tank that size would be a problem. It is possible it was injured when being caught.

There is nothing to spray over the fenceline and the fence is solid iron so I doubt spray would get through that, then the thick row of hebes and into the pond but will check on Monday. They have never sprayed before so doubt they are doing so now. Not age as none of them are anywhere near old age. We haven't had any temperature changes that would affect such a large body of water. I started feeding them last week and wondered if the fish food had gone off but more would be affected if that was the case. I have thrown out the old food as a precaution although it looked and smelled like the new food.

The above was taken looking down on the fish. The patch that looks a bit like a skull is just reflection. It is in a plastic container sitting on a stainless steel draining bit of the bench. This is from the front.

The past two days have had the death of one very large and one medium sized goldfish each day and today I have another small - medium about to expire. I have seen no sign of them spawning yet and do not usually until November, so it is not exhausted females. There is not a mark on them. Full colour, no redness, rapid breathing, bloating, fin rot or swim bladder problem. They just curl slightly and die. These photos show the smallest. It is still alive, breathing normally. If startled it can swim away then just goes back to hanging curled on its side. Pond appears as usual. Fresh water runs into it continually via a ballcock. Filter and waterfall running well. No garden spraying that I know of done by neighbours (besides, I would expect more deaths if that was the case). We back on to a reserve and nothing is done over there except the occasional mowing. I would attach photo but it keeps telling me I am only allowed 215.04kb despite the pic only being 79kb. Trying a Photobucket link instead.

What are these mobile devices called tablets and Ipads? Us oldies do not require autocorrect as we were taught to spell correctly in the first place

Just trying to look at the site on my phone. First time I have used internet on phone. Why do people prefer to do this rather than use a computer? It is small & fiddly!

We ARE on Facebook. Many may not have bothered switching to the new site and logging in again as required. Also, lovely weather and time to be in the garden so daylight saving has them enjoying the sunshine.

I have used it. Can't remember anything bad happening (or especially good either) but I have been senile longer than you I believe it is supposed to be good as I have vague memories of people being pleased when it was introduced to NZ a few (probably a lot) years ago. My fish certainly ate it happily.

Haul it out and add to the compost. If you get rid of it all at once you will probably end up with a major crash in the pond with it going green as the nutrient balance will be upset by such a sudden change. Just trim it as you would any plant.

I have 5 or 6 large poly boxes (would fit a couple of 6 packs in each of them I guess) and 7 x 6 pack size poly boxes if anyone wants them. All have lids. Free to a good home but if you want them sent to you, you pay the freight. We will be in Christchurch this weekend so anyone there can pick them up from Belfast.

I am sure all specialised shops have trouble finding knowledgeable staff, especially on the low wages they can afford to offer and in such a small town too. I would be contacting the owner (hopefully one of the women involved was not an owner) and explaining, nicely, what had happened and your concern the staff had not been trained in the correct procedure for catching fish. I would suggest too they get a book describing the basic needs of most fish sold there so they can look up information regarding individual requirements. If the reaction you get is not satisfactory then I would shop elsewhere.

It is a great hobby to have when you have children to help (or hinder as is sometimes the case, especially with over-zealous feeding) see it develop and get involved in the setting up, aquascaping, choosing the inhabitants and on-going maintenance.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/science/72546174/first-sighting-of-glowing-sea-turtle